Trey Sermon named one of PFF's dark horse OROY candidates

PFF’s Anthony Treash has named running back Trey Sermon a dark horse Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate.

After three productive years at Oklahoma and a breakout season at Ohio State in 2020, Sermon is poised to make a big impact in San Francisco in his first NFL season. The 49ers chose him in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. 

Sermon’s contributions will be dictated in large part by Raheem Mostert’s playing time, as he is the clear starter right now. Mostert suffered several injuries in 2020, demonstrating to Shanahan that he may not be the 49ers best long-term option. Another notable factor is how Shanahan will use rookie quarterback Trey Lance. Shanahan has said Garoppolo is still the starter, but dual-threat Lance is sitting behind him. Should Lance get any significant playing time, it could impact Sermon’s touches. 

Treash noted how the OROY Award has become a quarterback award. From 1967 to 2002, a running back won it 75% of the time. Since then, the rate has fallen to 33%. If Sermon gets a decent number of handoffs in Shanahan’s system, he has proven he has the strength and explosiveness to become a national story.

Sermon’s college career ended with a bang

Sermon spent his undergraduate career in Norman where he played with or behind Rodney Anderson, Kennedy Brooks and Rhamondre Stevenson. To increase his playing time, he elected to leave for Columbus as a graduate transfer.

Last year for the Buckeyes, Sermon’s first five games were pedestrian. He had between nine and 13 rushing attempts with 48 to 112 yards. He was the second-string running back during those games behind Master Teague. Teague suffered an Achilles injury against Northwestern in the Big Ten title game in December, and Sermon exploded onto the scene. 

Against Northwestern he had 331 yards and two touchdowns, breaking Eddie George’s previous single-game yardage record of 313 yards. Sermon provided the spark for a struggling Ohio State offense and was rewarded with the game’s MVP award.  In the Sugar Bowl against Clemson he had an additional 193 yards and a score. He ended the 2020 season averaging 7.5 yards per carry.

In total, Sermon has 455 rushing attempts for 2,946 yards and 26 touchdowns at the collegiate level.

Treash wrote that Sermon broke 0.32 tackles per attempt while in college, which was tied for fifth in the FBS during that time period.

Image courtesy of Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images